Every Yoga teacher has experienced it: a new student comes to practice, and he or she seems to do well. They never ask a question or for clarification, but after a practice, they disappear. What happened?
Their specialized yoga teacher training intensive produces instructors who strictly follow their exact policies. The series of asanas have been copyrighted by Bikram Choudhury, so deviance from the series is strictly forbidden, and there is also a reputation for instructors to be rather draconian.
Many Yoga instructors skim over meditation, which is the most rewarding part of a class. There are many reasons for this. Among these reasons is a belief that students cannot become relaxed. With technology as it is, are Yoga students going through withdrawal, when they unplug themselves from electronic devices?
With the guidance of a certified yoga instructor, your practice will open your mind allowing you to balance your mood. With daily practice, anxiety will be replaced with calmness, sadness with happiness and fatigue with energy.
The least understood aspects within a typical Yoga teacher training are pratyahara, dharna, dhyana and samadhi. These are the last four of the Eight Limbs described by Maharishi Patanjali within the Yoga Sutras.
In Kundalini Yoga schools, the term shakti is used often. It refers both to feminine divine energy and a goddess. The definition of shakti means sacred empowerment. It is the sacred primordial dynamic energy that pulsates throughout the universe.
Some Yoga schools have strict guidelines to prevent students from meditating in a supine position. Many Yoga certification courses often discourage interns from meditating in Savasana. Although, It has been said, by some, that everyone meditates involuntarily, at night, when they sleep.
Each Yoga teacher training intensive offers something unique. Due to what is perceived as the most important factor in teaching, Yoga schools have their interns focus on various aspects. Is fitness, therapeutic application, student safety, or compassion the most important factor in teaching Yogic practices? Chances are, you feel it should be a combination of these ingredients and you realize that no two Yoga instructors are alike.
Do Yoga instructors talk about enhancing beauty in a class? This is a subject that is hardly touched upon in Yoga schools, but teachers often guide students toward emotional, mental, spiritual and physical beauty.
Yoga training as an intervention for spinal stenosis, is so effective that in February 2011, Dr. Anand Gandhi, a physician at the Laser Spine Institute in Scottsdale, AZ, published an article on “Yoga and the Aging Spine,” detailing the benefits of Yoga therapy for an aging spine as it "promotes a full range of motion, restores flexibility, and improves circulation."